Question about Saltwater (i know, silly)

[Frigideus]

My rocks finally get here in a week! The only problem now is getting ahold of some saltwater. I plan to call my LFS about this exact issue as well but I just thought I'd ask for a few other opinions. My RODI filter hasn't been set up yet (it will be done in roughly two weeks, unfortunately, since the home needed to be renovated to supply water to where in my house I was planning on keeping it) so I just am wondering where I can get a large quantity of saltwater and/or RODI water to mix my own.

My current thoughts are:
- Buy it from the LFS this week
- Find somewhere that sells a lot of RODI water. Any ideas on where this could be?
- Take the RODI unit itself and maybe just hook it into a sink or a bathroom or something until the permanent location is installed?

Are there any other options besides these? Once the waterline gets installed I won't have to deal with this issue anymore, but I'm just looking for a way to get past the first initial filling of the tank. I'll also obviously just need a small amount of RODI water to keep my auto top off filled up but that should come with the solution naturally.

 

[dedragon]

this should work for you or any similar one
for salt just depends on which brand you want to use but most are fine, esp if it is just for rocks being cycled
Amazon product

 

[Red_Beard]

There is this:

https://www.chewy.com/natures-ocean-nutri-seawater-natural/dp/776286

but it is pretty expensive. You could just get all the RO water from the LFS and mix it all up yourself as another option.

 

[Tripod1404]

My rocks finally get here in a week! The only problem now is getting ahold of some saltwater. I plan to call my LFS about this exact issue as well but I just thought I'd ask for a few other opinions. My RODI filter hasn't been set up yet (it will be done in roughly two weeks, unfortunately, since the home needed to be renovated to supply water to where in my house I was planning on keeping it) so I just am wondering where I can get a large quantity of saltwater and/or RODI water to mix my own.

My current thoughts are:
- Buy it from the LFS this week
- Find somewhere that sells a lot of RODI water. Any ideas on where this could be?
- Take the RODI unit itself and maybe just hook it into a sink or a bathroom or something until the permanent location is installed?

Are there any other options besides these? Once the waterline gets installed I won't have to deal with this issue anymore, but I'm just looking for a way to get past the first initial filling of the tank. I'll also obviously just need a small amount of RODI water to keep my auto top off filled up but that should come with the solution naturally.

For RO water, you can buy steam distilled water from Walmart. Saltwater would probably need to come from LFS unless you live close to the ocean. If you do, some places sell it. Seattle aquarium for example used to sell you natural sea water that they pumped from offshore at an insanely cheap price 1$ per 20 gallons.

 

[Fish Fan]

If it's a smaller tank you can buy gallons of distilled water from nearly any grocery store or pharmacy, would be the next best thing to your own RODI water. You could ask your local shop too, many of them sell RODI water and premix saltwater, but double check the salinity

 

[Frigideus]

For RO water, you can buy steam distilled water from Walmart. Saltwater would probably need to come from LFS unless you live close to the ocean. If you do, some places sell it. Seattle aquarium for example used to sell you natural sea water that they pumped from offshore at an insanely cheap price 1$ per 20 gallons.

I actually live on the coast and there are areas I can get saltwater for free, and this what i did for my fowlr tank 15 years ago. The problem with this method is I was later told is that getting ocean saltwater, especially after it rains, can cause major issues for aquatic life, especially reef animals. I am not entirely sure how true this is but I will probably stick to mixing after the paranoia, sadly.

 

[Frigideus]

If it's a smaller tank you can buy gallons of distilled water from nearly any grocery store or pharmacy, would be the next best thing to your own RODI water. You could ask your local shop too, many of them sell RODI water and premix saltwater, but double check the salinity

It's a 100 gallon tank. I guess this means I can buy RODI from my LFS, if I have to? I hope this is the case. Is there any better solution for large tanks or am I destined to make multiple trips from the LFS? I plan to call and ask a few of my LFS today just to double check but I appreciate second opinions from tank owners online.

 

[Fish Fan]

That's pretty much all I can think of

 

[Red_Beard]

It's a 100 gallon tank. I guess this means I can buy RODI from my LFS, if I have to? I hope this is the case. Is there any better solution for large tanks or am I destined to make multiple trips from the LFS? I plan to call and ask a few of my LFS today just to double check but I appreciate second opinions from tank owners online.

You could always set up your RO/DI somewhere else temporarily while you make water into a buckets or get a 100' of 1/4 tubing and string it through the house into the tank directly.

 

[Biokabe]

If you already have your RO/DI system and are just waiting for renos to be done to hook it up... you might have some in-home options you could do temporarily, and would likely be cheaper and easier than hauling water from LFS.

For the easiest, you can get an RO/DI faucet adapter to hook it up to a sink faucet. Basically, you unscrew the aerator for your faucet, screw the adapter in its place, and then flick the lever over to divert water from your fauce to the RO/DI system. From there, you can either put the output into 5g buckets and ferry them over to the tank (bad idea) or get enough RO/DI hosing to reach from the closest faucet to the tank (better idea). The one downside here is that faucets, surprisingly, are not universal, and your faucets might not fit one of the available adapters.

The second idea is basically the same, but a bit more permanent: An angle diverter valve for your under-sink water source, coupled with a self-piercing saddle valve for the waste water. This has the advantage of working with any water source (you screw in directly at the source, rather than at a faucet) but the saddle valve will create a permanent hole in your drain line. Alternately, you could divert the waste stream into the sink above, and if it's going to be a temporary situation I'd say to just do that. It does mean having an awkward mess of tubing around the tank, but if you have a more permanent home planned then that's not a big deal for a one-time thing.

 

[Jamie814]

100' of 1/4 tubing and string it through the house into the tank directly.

I would do this↑ probably the cheapest option as well, 1/4" tubing is cheap, as is a facet adaptor to hook the unit up to your sink. Doesn't need to be RO tubing even for just this one fill. Any 1/4" OD tubing would work assuming it free flows and the RO/DI is shut off when the tank is full so no back pressure on the tubing. Cheap airline tubing would work.

If this is live sand and rock mix the saltwater in the tank first, then add rock.

If the sand is dry or rock is dry it could be added before or after adding salt.

 

[Dom]

My RODI filter hasn't been set up yet (it will be done in roughly two weeks, unfortunately, since the home needed to be renovated to supply water to where in my house I was planning on keeping it) so I just am wondering where I can get a large quantity of saltwater and/or RODI water to mix my own.

Why not wait two weeks until your RODI is set up?